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Thursday, May 3, 2018

I won’t serve Nigeria again – Okonjo-Iweala

A former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has declared that she is done serving Nigeria.
Okonjo spoke at an event preceding the presentation of the book, “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines” held at the Politics and Prose, Washington DC, US.
It is a book where she illustrates what she had to go through in the fight against corruption in Nigeria
Responding to a question on whether she was willing to return to Nigeria to serve again if called upon, the former Minister said, “I served the country for seven years; I think I’m the longest serving finance minister in the country.
“Other people now have a chance to serve, I am doing what I adore, I am having fun and my work is valued in the international community.
“That is what I was doing before but I went to Nigeria out of love and I want to send the signal to Nigerian young people that if they actually love the country, they can serve without being corrupt.
“They are actually people who serve because they think it is a national honour and duty, I felt it is an honour for my country to ask for my service and I was duty bound to serve.
“And I have done that, so now I am doing other things so that other people can also serve. On the special fund for those fighting corruption, the international community needs to come together and put together resources to support people who may not be well known, who are fighting. And we heard some many examples from different countries of people who had to flee because they were been intimidated and attacked when they tried to block the diversion of the monies and the stealing of money.
“And if people don’t have that signal that they can go somewhere and be protected, they will be less willing to do what is right and to fight. So we need that and there is a movement and people are interested.”